Jennifer Lawrence has defended her decision to wear a revealing dress for a photo call in chilly London while her male co-stars kept warm, saying she was “extremely offended” by the uproar.

Photos of a scantily clad Lawrence flanked by her Red Sparrow co-stars Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts and Jeremy Irons, plus director Francis Lawrence, all wearing coats and scarves, were circulated online as evidence of the ridiculous standards placed on women in Hollywood.

But the 27-year-old star has slammed the suggestion she had no control over her clothing choice, declaring in a Facebook post: “This is sexist, this is ridiculous, this is not feminism.

“Wow. I don’t really know where to get started on this ‘Jennifer Lawrence wearing a revealing dress in the cold’ controversy,” Lawrence wrote.

This is not only utterly ridiculous, I am extremely offended. That Versace dress was fabulous, you think I’m going to cover that gorgeous dress up with a coat and a scarf?

“I was outside for five minutes. I would have stood in the snow for that dress because I love fashion and that was my choice.”

Jennifer Lawrence braved the London cold in Versace, while her male co-stars were all rugged up. Photo: Getty

Women in the film industry, including Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda Williams, called the photos an all-too-familiar picture of the male-female inequality, while an article on feminist website Jezebel bore the headline, ‘Please give Jennifer Lawrence a dang coat’.

But Lawrence slammed media outlets and Twitter commentators for detracting from “real issues” by inciting furore about something trivial.

“Overreacting about everything someone says or does, creating controversy over silly innocuous things such as what I choose to wear or not wear, is not moving us forward,” she wrote to her 16 million Facebook followers.

“It’s creating silly distractions from real issues. Get a grip people. Everything you see me wear is my choice. And if I want to be cold THAT’S MY CHOICE TOO!”